Dressrosa's sea breeze carried a warm, salty dampness, yet it could not dispel the killing chill over the square. Hundreds of thousands of citizens poured in from every direction, packing the entire royal square solid. Every eye focused on the hundred-meter-high execution platform at its center.
The black Empire Dragon Flag fluttered atop the execution platform. Twelve Imperial Guards soldiers clad in black armor stood solemnly around it, spears in hand, their gazes cold as blades. The sound of heavy chains dragging came from the end of the passage, drawing everyone's attention.
Four two-meter-tall Imperial Guards strongmen dragged heavy seastone chains up the execution platform, step by step. At the end of those chains, tightly bound, was Kaido of the Beasts, who had dominated the seas for decades and was known as the "World's Strongest Creature."
His upper body was bare, covered in crisscrossing scars-the medals of a lifetime of warfare. His once mountainlike frame now seemed somewhat hunched. The power of the seastone constantly sapped his body, preventing him from using even a trace of his Devil Fruit abilities. Yet with every step, fine cracks still spread across the flagstones beneath his feet. The lingering might of the king of beasts remained chilling.
"Let me go! You lowly scum!" Kaido violently swung his arms, making all four strongmen stagger backward. "I am Kaido of the Beasts! How dare you humiliate me like this!"
"Behave!" the captain leading the Imperial Guards barked, driving his spear hard into the back of Kaido's knee. The seastone spear pierced his flesh. Kaido grunted and dropped to one knee.
"Hahaha!" Kaido suddenly threw back his head and laughed wildly, making the entire execution platform hum. "Good! What a Hua Empire! You actually managed to bind me, Kaido, with seastone! That brat Chen Yu does